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Continued from page 2

Compared to Windows XP, there are more security enhancements than I care to enumerate in this article. But even just compared to Windows 7, Windows 8 includes support for BitLocker encryption even without a TPM chip, and it has improved multi-factor authentication. Microsoft has improved Windows Defender so it now monitors network behavior for suspicious activity, and Remote Data Removal lets you remotely wipe company-related data without completely wiping a user’s personal data. Those are just off the top of my head.

5. Versatility

If you’re using a traditional desktop or laptop PC—particularly one that isn’t equipped with a touchscreen display—then the unique qualities of the Windows 8 Metro Start screen will elude you. However, if that is the case and you just want to use Windows 8 as if it’s Windows 7, that is exceptionally easy to achieve. You can just add tiles to the Start screen for the applications you use in Desktop mode and start them with a single click. Or, if you prefer you can set up your Start screen so the only tile is the one that takes you to the Desktop mode, and then just set up your shortcuts on the desktop or on the Task Bar like you’re used to doing in previous versions of Windows. It is a very slight change in behavior that should take about 5 minutes to get used to. No big deal.

The beauty of Windows 8, though, is that it can also be more. Windows 7 is just Windows 7 and Windows XP is just Windows XP. Windows 8 is like having Windows 7, with the added versatility of being able to set up live tiles to display current news and weather, or social network status updates. If you have a Windows 8 tablet like a Surface Pro 2 you can fire up the Kindle app and read a book in bed, or use the Xbox Glass app to augment your movie-viewing experience in the living room.

Much of the negative attention about Windows 8 has focused on the initial lack of a Start button, and the unique aspects of the Windows 8 Start screen. Microsoft addressed the Start button issue with the Windows 8.1 update, and the backlash about the Start screen is melodramatic.

It’s simply a matter of perspective. Rather than looking at Windows 8 as Windows 7 that has been handicapped by the Windows 8 Metro Start screen, users should look at it like Windows 7 that includes a bonus Metro Start screen that opens up new potential—whether you choose to use it right now or not.

It seems that most of the Windows 8 naysayers are really just Windows (or Microsoft) naysayers in general. It may not make their opinions completely invalid, but it would seem reasonable to take the opinion of a diehard Mac OS X or Linux user with a grain of salt when it comes to Windows.

Many of those who aren’t Mac OS X or Linux users appear to still be using Windows XP. Again, that doesn’t invalidate their feelings in and of itself, but these are the same people who already chose not to upgrade to Windows Vista or Windows 7—neither of which had nearly the dramatic overhaul that Windows 8 did. What that tells me is that this group is simply adverse to change and looking for things to dislike about a new operating system to justify the choice to stick with an OS from last century that will no longer be supported by Microsoft as of April.

That brings us to the water cooler crowd. These are the people who haven’t used Windows 8, and don’t have an opinion based on personal experience, but share the doom and gloom stories they’ve read from the Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows XP lovers. Rather than checking it out for themselves, they just perpetuate the negative hype, which creates a snowball effect where everyone seems to agree that Windows 8 has failed, but nobody really knows why.

The reality is that most of the differences in Windows 8 are cosmetic or trivial—especially compared to Windows 7. Nobody seems to freak out when a car manufacturer moves some buttons around, or changes the position of the gear shift from one model year to the next, and you don’t see a big backlash of people boycotting Oreo cookies because of the dumb way the new packages open.

The reason is because these things are just not that big a deal. Give it 15 minutes and it will become the new normal and then you’ll wonder (like me) what all the fuss is about.